Home Wealth Project
Extensive Research On How To Build Wealth From The Comfort Of Your Own Home.
If Your Product is Really Good, It Should Sell Itself
Jan 28th
How true is this? In response to an article on how to promote your business without being pushy, David Morgan threw the statement, “If your product or service is really good, it should sell itself” out there. So is it true?
If your product or service is really good, will it sell itself? And if so, when?
We want passive income, passive work and pay checks that come like clockwork—I know I do. But how passive can we be in the sales process?
Do products or services really sell themselves?
I see it like this: marketing is exposure. But the sales part of the process is closure. It’s the point that we decide to act on this “thing” that we now want, need and can no longer live without. And ultimately, in order for us to make the most of our customer’s experience we do have to be extremely active in both the marketing and the sales—or at least active in the plan behind the sales and marketing.
But David brings up an interesting point:
“If you produce a product or service which exceeds your customers expectations while fulfilling their needs and wants, it will basically sell itself (within reason).”
While I don’t believe that anything ever sells itself, I agree with the idea that a quality product or service can be much easier to sell. But every part of the process needs the best that we have to give.
As Gregory Berns, Psychiatrist and Author of Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How To Think Differently says:
“A person can have the greatest idea in the world…but if that person can’t convince enough other people, it doesn’t matter.’’
It’s also true of products because convincing “enough other people” is the marketing process. We just need to consider product development as the first part of the marketing process. Better products, better marketing, a better sales process leads to a better business.
So what do you think? I would love to know what you’ve learned from your own business. In the meantime, here is a quick “2-part,-I-almost-don’t-need-to-say-it,-but-I-will” marketing process/summary (and thanks, David, for your comments).
A Simple “2-Part,-I-Almost-Don’t-Need-to-Say-it,-But-I-Will” Marketing Process
Your marketing budget may be slashed, forcing you to use non-traditional but more cost effective mediums. That’s ok, you can still get your name out there. You just have to:
- understand your options;
- learn how to effectively use what you have;
- design a plan and implement it with everything that you got.
Simple Website Strategy
You need a website home that is more than just a brochure online. Have an about page that sounds like there are real people behind the business. Use a blog to have personal engagement with some of your visitors.
You can also use social media to connect and have a conversation. Act like you are talking to real people—because you are. And then give them some place to go when they finish talking to you on social media. That “some place” should be your information filled website that completely relates to your product or service and your audience.
Simple Product Strategy
Create one heck of a product or service that solves a real problem. And make it simple, or as simple as possible. When developing or upgrading the product, think like the client. Feel their frustration and work to alleviate it.
If you have a hard time role playing, then talk to real clients and find out what they really hate. In this economy money is spent daily, but only when necessary. And oftentimes necessary just means irresistible. So design an irresistible product for your target audience and then market it like it matters.
Sales Photo via Shutterstock
If Your Product is Really Good, It Should Sell Itself
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Good news about Amit (thank you!)
Jan 18th
My colleague Amit Gupta found a 10/10 marrow match. There’s still a long and treacherous road ahead, but thanks to you, and to people like you, and the ability to spread the word among the tribe, a match was found, something that was impossible just a few years ago.
Thank you.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Confusion Doesn’t Look Good On You: Profile Your Way To Clarity
Dec 31st
If confusion and overwhelm was an outfit, I would tell you to take it off, because it doesn’t look good on you. If it’s old, worn out and faded, then let it go.
What you wear should enhance what you have instead of playing up your weakness. In fashion, the goal is to wear what looks good on you. I’m saying clarity and balance looks good, so wear it well and wear it often. But how?
In “What Not to Do: The Most Important Decision You’ll Make,” John Mariotti says, “Refocus your time, talent and money on the important things, the big things, that will make a difference.” Sometimes that’s easier said than done, but here are two things worth your time—profiling your profitable passions and your ideal customers.
The goal is to understand your passion and your customers.
Profile your profitable passions
What do you want to do and can it pay for your lifestyle?
Ivana Taylor shows you how to find your passion and turn it into a profitable business. But it takes effort. You not only need to discover what you are interested in, but you must also find the market who would buy the product or service and the language that would get their attention, using tools like Google, eBay and Amazon.
And after you find the right niche, then it’s time to put more effort into clearly identifying your clients.
Profile your ideal customers
Who do you serve, what do you they want, where are they now and how do you reach them?
The last three questions become much easier to answer when you figure out the first one.
Ivana says:
“When you narrow your message…to a group who values what you are selling, then the rest of your marketing system becomes obvious and easy to implement.”
I spent a lot of time confused and it didn’t look good (or feel good) on me either. To profile my target client I used 3 of the 8 creative ways to profile ideal customers that Ivana mentions—complaints, Web traffic and character descriptions.
Understanding what my clients complain about and the types of people visiting my site based on my Alexa.com profile made it easier to create a character sketch of my target audience. And when you understand what your target audience looks like, then you can figure out where they shop, what they read, where they go to have fun, etc. All that knowledge creates opportunities to meet, market and serve them.
Now that’s a good use of time. Get clear and then get busy.
Confusion Photo via Shutterstock
Confusion Doesn’t Look Good On You: Profile Your Way To Clarity
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
3 Steps to Mastering Good Blogger Outreach
Nov 30th
Awareness is the first step of any customer outreach program. It has to be, and that’s why small business owners are always on the hunt for media coverage. You want to get your name out there to let people know who you are, what you do, and why they should give your company a shot. And when we’re talking about getting press as an SMB, it’s important to remember that we’re not just talking about your local newspapers, local television stations or even the local sections of larger news outlets. We’re also talking about bloggers – the voices who cover your industry and/or neighborhood online on a regular basis.
If you’re not sure why blogger outreach should be part of your marketing strategy, the recent State of the Blogosphere 2011 report released by Technorati (and blogged about by eMarketer) does a good job laying it all out for you.
- 38 percent of all bloggers post about brands they love or hate.
- 34 percent of bloggers write product or service reviews.
- More than 45 percent of bloggers write about the brands that they follow in social media.
If people are talking about you, people with established audiences, isn’t that a conversation you at least want to be in on, if not help lead? Many of these numbers are also up dramatically from just last year. For example, last year’s Technorati “State of the Blogosphere” reported that 29 percent of bloggers were influenced by other blogs they read. In 2011, that number has risen to 68 percent. As consumers adopt social buying behaviors, researching online and buying off, more and more they’re looking toward online reviews to help them make buying decisions and decide where they want to spend their money. And those online reviews are happening not only on sites like Yelp or TripAdvisor, but also on niche blogs.
As a small business owner, what should you be doing to up your blogger outreach efforts? Below are three steps to get you started.
Step 1: Research Your Contacts
Before you can begin any type of blogger outreach campaign, you have to know who you want to reach out to. Create a press or media list to help you group and organize your contacts. Your press list should include bloggers who have covered your business in the past, have covered competitors, or cover local happenings or news in your particular industry. To help you track down these people, you can use tools like Twellow or Twitter’s Advanced search to find bloggers located in your area, Tweepz to search Twitter bios for relevant keywords, Twitter directories like WeFollow, and your social analytics to identify which fans of your brand are tweeting or talking about you naturally. Your press list should be built out to include the blogger’s name, the blog URL, their social handles, an email address, the angle they typically cover, etc.
Step 2: Get on Their Radar
Once you have a blogger in your sights, it’s time to start a relationship. Just like at a cocktail party, you never want someone’s first contact with your brand to be you asking them for a favor or a handout. Make it about them as you lay the groundwork for a relationship. Get on their radar by starting a conversation on Twitter, helping them promote something they just published, sending them an email to say you’re enjoying their content (without pitching yours!) or connecting with them on Facebook. Just do something to get that conversation flowing and help them remember your name. That name recognition is what you’re going for to help you go from “stranger” to “friend.”
Step 3: Master the “Unpitch”
No one likes to be marketed to, but we all like finding out about great new products or services. As bloggers, we also like being the first to share that information with our audience. When you do reach out to your blogger contacts about covering your company, reviewing your product, or just sharing what you do with their audience, help it sound less like a pitch by highly customizing it to the person you’re talking to. An email telling someone about a new product isn’t marketing when it’s something that is very relevant to them or their audience. Then it becomes a useful heads-up and something we can use. Master the “unpitch” by matching your message directly to the needs of the person you’re contacting and showing the benefits of your product instead of trying to sell them. It’s OK to ask for a product review or ask to be included in an upcoming post, but make sure you tell them what’s in it for them and their audience , not for you.
As social buying patterns continue to grow in influence, consumers will continue to seek out information about others’ interactions with brands. And when they do, it’s blogs that they’ll stumble upon. What are you doing to better connect your brand with the writers providing that information and the people looking for it?
3 Steps to Mastering Good Blogger Outreach
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
What good interview questions are actually trying to discover
Nov 4th
How long are you willing to keep pushing on a good project until you give up?
How hard is it to get you to change your mind when you’re wrong?
How much do you learn from failing?
How long does it take you to learn something new?
How hard is it for you to let someone else take the lead?
How much do you care?
The rest is merely commentary, either that or they’re interviewing you for a job that’s not as good as you deserve. For those jobs, the only question they’re really focusing on is, “will she fit in around here?”
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Finally, Some Good News for Women Entrepreneurs in Latest Angel Capital Study
Nov 2nd
Women entrepreneurs are making progress in obtaining investment capital; minority entrepreneurs still have a ways to go; and the overall angel investment news is cautiously optimistic. So says Q1 Q2 2011 Angel Market Trends, the latest report on angel investing from the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire.
First, the positive news about women. In the first half of 2011, women angel investors represented 12 percent of the angel market, and women-owned businesses accounted for 12 percent of the entrepreneurs seeking angel capital. While these numbers aren’t outstanding, they do represent progress. More impressive is that 26 percent of the women entrepreneurs seeking angel investment in the first half of the year received it. In fact, the report notes, the percentage of women actually getting angel investments is above the overall average.
The news was not quite as good for minority entrepreneurs or angels. Minorities made up just 5 percent of the angel population, and 11 percent of the companies seeking angel financing were minority-owned. Like women, however, minorities received angel financing at a higher than the average: 17 percent of minorities seeking angel capital received it, compared to 15 percent of businesses overall. This is the positive news, but the report’s authors feel that the low percentages of minorities seeking angel capital is cause for concern.
If you’re not a minority or woman business owner, the news about angel capital is still pretty good (at least, relatively speaking). “The angel market appears to have reached its nadir in 2009 and has since demonstrated a slow recovery,” the report states. The market yield rate (the percentage of companies seeking financing that actually receive it) reached 15 percent in the first half of 2011, continuing a slow climb from 10 percent in 2008 and 12 percent in 2010.
Overall, total angel investments in the first half of 2011 were $8.9 billion—up 4.7 percent from the same period last year—and 26,300 companies got angel financing, up 4.4 percent from last year. The average investment was $338,400.
Some of the most popular areas for angel investing are not surprising, including healthcare services/medical devices and equipment (25 percent of total angel investments), industrial/energy (17 percent), biotech (14 percent) and software (11 percent). What is surprising is that media and retail sectors have become firmly entrenched in the top six most popular sectors for angel financing, with each getting 8 percent of total investments.
And for those of us looking to angels as a stimulator of job growth, there’s also good news. Angels have significantly increased seed and startup stage investing, which accounted for 39 percent of angel investments in the first half of this year—up from 26 percent during the same period last year. The report notes this is an “encouraging sign” for new business formation and job creation. And with an estimated 5 jobs created by each angel investment this year—or a total of 134,130 new jobs due to angel investment so far in 2011—it’s clear that angels can be a major engine of job growth if they feel confident enough to invest.
Finally, Some Good News for Women Entrepreneurs in Latest Angel Capital Study
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Obama Benefits From Good Luck Internationally, But Domestically It’s a Different Story
Nov 2nd
When a president takes office, sometimes luck is on his side, other times not.
Internationally, much progress has been made in bringing down some of America’s top enemies. The death of Osama bin Laden lifted spirits briefly but now seems like a distant memory. Muammar Gaddafi had long taunted the U.S., and the president’s patience and support of Libyan rebels has resulted in the dictator’s demise. Similarly, persistence paid off in the pursuit of American-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki. Soon U.S. forces will leave Iraq. These international events are positives for President Obama.
The stock market zoomed on October 27 as a long-sought agreement by European leaders to boost the bailout fund for struggling economies. While the Dow has been on a roller coaster ride this year, overall the market has recuperated nicely from its doldrums earlier in the year. This latest international news helps.
President Obama has said the country must tackle its greatest challenge as a nation: rebuilding our economy. He connected this task with the successes of the military, saying we need to create jobs with the “same urgency and unity that our troops brought to their fight.”
Meanwhile, fortune has not been on the president’s side domestically. International successes often do not translate into domestic success. President Obama inherited a down economy that has not truly recovered. On the one hand, the recession helped him defeat his Republican challenger since the party in power usually takes the blame when the economy tanks. However, since unemployment has not improved all that much, the president needs an economic recovery or else his reelection prospects will be grim. Just ask George H.W. Bush.
President Obama has tried a number of initiatives with mixed results. The SBA has largely proven effective in providing capital to startups and growing businesses. However, less than half of the banks eligible to take advantage of the Small Business Lending Fund did so, and a number of those institutions used the available capital to repay their TARP obligations, which was not how the money was intended to be used.
The president’s first stimulus plan spent a lot of money, but did not yield the anticipated results in jump-starting the economy. His opponents argue that the initiatives have made things worse, and the fact that the country’s deficit has gotten larger does not help in the long term. He is having trouble selling his current jobs package.
Still, scaling back on the expense of the war in Iraq should reduce military spending significantly, and the president is likely planning an exit strategy for Afghanistan – if one is possible without hurting U.S. security. The new StartupAmerica is getting off the ground with a goal of stimulating economic recovery.
The entrepreneurial spirit remains part of the fabric of America. The president is doing everything he can to harness it and help small businesses, which generate a majority of the new jobs in the economy.
Obama Benefits From Good Luck Internationally, But Domestically It’s a Different Story
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
It’s Your Biz: A Good Book for Startups
Oct 15th
That’s it! You’ve finally decided to start that business. Your friends and family are supportive and think that you can really set the world on fire with your Italian restaurant, cupcakes or hunting knives. You’re all fired up and ready to go.
But wait! Before you go headfirst into your new life and new venture, take a couple of hours and read through Susan Solovic’s new book It’s Your Biz. I received a Kindle review version of the book from the publisher a little while ago. I’m not going to be able to give you detailed descriptions of the book or the chapters because the Kindle version doesn’t lend itself easily to that.
You may have seen Susan Solovic (@SusanSolovic) on television because she makes appearances on ABC News, Fox Business News and MSNBC as a small business contributor. The last time I saw her on TV, she was sharing her experiences as a woman in business and what the future for women in business held.
You’ll get much of this same common-sense advice in It’s Your Biz. Solovic doesn’t hold back on telling it like it is. There are several pieces of advice that I’ve gleaned so far that will give you a flavor for what I mean:
- Write a business plan yourself. It doesn’t matter if it’s on a paper bag, as long as it clearly communicates the who, what, where and when of your business.
- Build your business for the future. I heard Susan mention this bit of advice while we were on a radio show panel together. The next day I completely reworked my business plan to reflect this concept. Most of us build a business we can run today. We don’t plan or create the systems that will allow other people to do the things that we are doing ourselves today. It’s basically the same advice you’ll get in the books E-Myth and Built to Sell: Build a turnkey business machine – not just a job for yourself. Brilliant.
- Don’t be influenced by friends and family. At one extreme, friends and family will push you to start a business without realizing that you are the one taking the risk. They don’t want to squelch your dreams or to make you feel bad. And so you listen to their encouragement without doing the necessary research and fail. At the other extreme, friends and family may not support you at all. This is your business – make your own decision after you do the work and gather the evidence to support it.
These are just a few nuggets of advice from the first section of the book. There are many more where that came from.
Who should read this book?
If you’re just thinking about going into business for yourself, this is a great book to get into before you jump into the entrepreneurial pool.
If you know someone who is thinking about getting into business for themselves, this book makes a terrific gift. It will show your support and give you both the opportunity to go through the book together and discuss it.
Coaches and consultants who work with startups would also get some benefit from this book. I read a lot of books about startups. Sometimes they all seem to run together, but I always get something worthwhile out of each.
Overall, It’s Your Biz is a great book to read if you’re thinking about starting a business, or even if you already have a business and want to review all the basics to make sure that you’re on track. With the new year approaching, this is a great gift and business book to review and reference to grow your business.
It’s Your Biz: A Good Book for Startups
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
“It will be good exposure”
Jul 30th
Well, it might be.
Now that everyone, every brand, every organization and just about every person is in a race to build trust or an online following or a reputation, the question of working for free in exchange for exposure confronts us all.
Should you art direct a new ad for the local zoo, merely to build your cred? Should you give that speech for free, because people who pay speakers will be in the audience? Should you contribute code to the new kernel because people will see what you’ve done? Appear on a talk show, do a signing, call in to a radio show?
Perhaps.
Unsatisfying, but true.
Exposure, the right kind of exposure, is good practice, an honest contribution and yes, a chance to build credibility. Make it a habit, though, and instead of exposure, you’ve set yourself up a new standard– that you work for free.
Alas, one more decision you need to make.
Some designers (and authors) violently disagree with my case by case approach… they think the entire profession is cheapened by spec work and work for exposure–they argue that solidarity is the only response. I’ll point out that these very designers belong to organizations that ask speakers to speak for free… for exposure.
If you’re an unpublished author, you’re certainly better off doing a lot of writing online (even entire novels given away) for free before you veer in the direction of doing it for a living. In fact, most people I know (in every field) don’t do nearly enough work for free, they’re not contributing enough to their community, not adding their expertise or their ideas to the conversation. As a result, they’re either invisible or seen as not interested.
Punchline: just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s a good idea (or a bad one). It means you should think hard about how everyone benefits (including you). [PS a video from last year you might enjoy, complete with Y! tie.]
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Dangerous (in a good way)
Jun 20th
A path on the way to building a reputation:
- When someone asks you a question, they get an answer bigger than they ever expected.
- When someone gives you a project, they get a plan scarier than they hoped for.
- When you take on a project, you finish it.
If this is your reputation, what sort of projects and gigs will you find yourself getting? Not a good way to fit in, but an excellent way to be the one people seek out.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
